


Of Monsters and Memories

by RamblesandDragons



Series: Gravity Falls One-Shots [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alcohol, Hurt/Comfort, Swearing, These boys need therapy, i am so rusty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21619459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamblesandDragons/pseuds/RamblesandDragons
Summary: A short fic based onthis comic(Now with a working link!)Ford and Stan run into a monster on the seas that makes them realize something.
Series: Gravity Falls One-Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1581268
Comments: 17
Kudos: 107





	Of Monsters and Memories

Ford had told Stan about some of the dangers they would run into in the arctic. Krakens, selkies, freezing cold. Some sort of thing that was the unholy offspring of nightmares and a squid wasn’t one of those things. The problem was the thing seemed to made out of smoke and they were having the damnest time pinning it down but it had to have some sort of physical form. It sure as hell was holding on to Stan tight enough.

Stan was wrapped around the mast of the boat as the arctic wind howled or maybe it was the creature, he had no idea.

“Hey anytime with that fancy space gun Sixer!” 

“Aiming is proving to be difficult give me a moment!” Ford yelled back. 

Stan did his best to wiggle out of the tentacles that had him but stopped the struggle when he noticed that Ford had all but been swallowed by a plume of smoke. Only his head was visible in the cloud of darkness. Ford’s eyes were tense with pain and tears were streaming down his cheek. 

“Ford, snap out of it. Whatever you see ain’t real!”

Ford had been looking forward to taking notes of the creature made of smoke that floated above the ice. He had never even seen something like this before. It had to be some sort of life form as it weaved around the boat almost playfully. Things had taken a sharp turn for the worst when Stan tried to take a picture of it for the kids. It screeched and started to climb up the side of the boat with long tendrils extending. Stan grimaced and slide on his old pair of brass knuckles.

“Want to bet I can punch smoke?” Stan yelled leaping at it with full force. 

In a flurry of shouts, punches, and missed shots Ford found himself trying to save his knuckleheaded brother who was wrapped around the mast. Aiming was proving to be a problem as the smoke wouldn’t stay together into a shape. It had spread itself thin onto the deck of the boat only forming parts of itself it to tentacles to hold Stan.

Ford could feel panic rising into him. He cursed himself for thinking that it had been playful earlier when it had clearly been looking for the best time to strike. He had let his enthusiasm get to him again and now Stan was in danger again. 

_Chastise yourself later Stan needs help!_ Ford tried to find a target but froze as the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

A dark malevolence engulfed him in a plume of smoke. The chill it brought to Ford’s body made the cold of the arctic seem like a walk in the park. He physically shook himself to clear it away and focused again on his brother but Stan was gone. He was alone in some sort of inky void. He looked around and realized with horror his clothes had changed. He was wearing Stan’s old suit. In his hand’s was the wretched memory gun. 

Seeing it again made Ford’s stomach clinch tight. The urge to drop it to the ground and smash it was strong but he had to…to do something with it. He looked up again to see he was no longer alone in the void, Stan had appeared, on his knees and unconscious. Just like the last time. Tears started to burn at the corners of Ford’s eyes as his arm moved on some sort of autopilot pointing the gun at Stan’s head.

“Please…I can’t…not again…” Ford’s body shook as whispered to the void. His vision blurred with tears as the world started to become dark.

“Hey Poindexter! Did you know the world was flat?”

**"What?"**

“Yeah, I’m one of those flat earth people.” It was Stan’s voice coming from somewhere. Not the body before Ford kneeling and awaiting its fate at his hands, but outside of the void.

“Stan…the world isn’t flat?” 

_I've gone mad,_ Ford thought completely lost.

“Oh yeah it is. I kept meaning to ask when we were going to hit the edge. Also, you know we didn’t go to the moon in ‘69 right?”

“S-Stan we watched it on the damn TV together!” Ford’s voice echoed and for a moment the sounds of the sea seemed to reach his ears.

“I mean yeah we did but it was faked. Although that was a good day, right? Ma let us stay home to watch it. Remember?” Almost at Stan’s beckoning the void changed around him and the image of two small boys watching a small TV formed in front of Ford. It wasn’t as clear as the one of Stan awaiting his doom and it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. It was one of Ford’s favorite memories besides the two of them finding the original Stan of War.

“Yeah I do.” Ford whispered softly. He could now feel ocean spray on his face. The cold in his soul was being melted by the warmth in his chest growing. The creature shrieked and withdrew from around Ford. He was now fully back to the deck of the ship and before him was Stan still tied to the mast by smoky tendrils.

“Oh yeah and uh did you know that the government is putting chemicals in the water to brain wash us? Or that the government is actually a bunch of lizard people actually hold on you might believe that one let’s see…”

" ** _Stan_** ” Ford wanted to both hug and smack his brother at the same time.

“What? Oh hey welcome back now can you shoot this fuckin’ thing?”

“Gladly.” Ford growled. 

The thing had gathered back into a smoke ball but it seemed to Ford less intimidating now, slightly smaller, weaker. There was no way to really tell where the thing’s body was so Ford just started to fire on the thickest gathering of grey and black he could see. There was going to be a few holes in the deck of the ship but it was worth it to hear the thing let out one last scream before collapsing into a pile of goo. Stan was freed from the mast as the smoky tendrils disintegrated. Ford ran into the hull of the ship and returned with gloves, a scraper and a container. 

Dinner was sandwiches that night as Stan was too tried to cook. He eyed Ford as he ate and let out a heavy sigh as he realized he had only taken a bite of his dinner. Ford’s forehead was knit together like it did when he was thinking too hard.

“Wanna talk about it?” Stan’s voice seemed to shake Ford out of his thoughts. 

“Well we do need to talk if you believe the world is flat. I have failed as a scientist if my own brother believes that.” Ford let out a weak chuckle.

“Nah I’m not the brightest but I’m not that dumb. Look, I was just thinking of the craziest things I could to snap you out of whatever trance that the smoke thing had you under. Nothing pisses you off more than bad science.”

“Stan, I want to apologize. I feel like I wasn’t paying close enough attention and let my curiosity get in the way of your safety. I will aim to do better.”

“Sixer it’s okay you…”

" **No** , it’s not okay!” Ford cut Stan off. “My mistakes keep getting you hurt.”

“Look I was getting myself hurt plenty before coming out here with you.” Stan had recently gotten a lovely memory of spraining his ankle while running from some dogs when he was about 25 back a couple of weeks ago which could be good proof of that but he knew that wouldn’t exactly make his brother feel better. Ford pushed his plate away and leaned his head into his hands.

“What exactly did that thing do to ya?” 

“My running theory is that whatever it was prays on a victim’s memories. Their worst moments causing them to freeze up. I was about to…I was about to erase you again.” The tears were coming back into Ford’s eyes. Stan slid him over a napkin.

“That’s you’re worst moment?”

“O-of course. I’ve faced plenty of horrible things but that was my mistakes coming back to bite me in the ass. I’m fine with that. But when my arrogance and stupidity hurts other people, people I care about…first there was Fidds and then you were the one who could have lost everything for my carelessness and…”

Stan slammed his fist onto the table and that startled Ford enough to break him out of his rant. “I pushed you into that hell portal I…”

“A hell portal I built!” Ford interjected loudly. 

“You were conned. Manipulated. Ford you’re stubborn and yeah maybe a little arrogant but so am I.” Stan got out of his chair and kneeled by his brother.

“If there was an award for who could hold on to guilt the longest, I could probably win the gold medal. So, listen to me here. Please don’t let this mind erasing thing eat you alive. I know I’m the poster child for healthy coping but please don’t be so hard on yourself. I have enough self-loathing for both of us.”

“Stanley.”

“Look being out here with you watching you get all excited and doing nerd stuff has been the happiest I’ve been in years. I don’t need you to be worrying about what might happen so much that you stop enjoying it ‘cus then I’ll stop enjoying it and so what the hell else do we do huh? Soos is in charge of the Shack and I wouldn’t really want to go back. So, what, do we spend our next few years playing bingo in an old folks’ home?”

“Hell no.” Ford responded somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

“Right. So, relax. There is no where I’d rather be.” Stan grinned when a small smile placed itself on Ford’s face.

“What are the qualities of a Pines man? Braveness, boldness, curiosity, creativity, stubbornness, and deep self-loathing.” Ford said counting on his fingers.

“Let’s hope Dipper skips out on that one.” Stan got back up and poured himself and Ford a drink of the good stuff they kept for special occasions. He figured dealing with a smoke monster was occasion enough.

Ford looked at the amber liquid and drained it in one gulp. “Stanley has is ever occurred to you that perhaps we could use a little therapy in our lives?”

“No shrink is so understanding that they would believe half the shit that’s happened to us.” 

“Perhaps we should look. Even if we have to go a more supernatural route to get an adequate one I-I think we should.” Ford began to scribble what Stan guessed to be a list of idea candidates. He smiled as he watched the wheels in his brother’s mind whirl.

“Yeah. Sure, I’ll talk to a fairy about my problems.” Stan spent the rest of his night listening to Ford tell him why it was an awful idea to let the Fae know your problems and enjoyed every minute of it.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in years. I kind of gave up on it but I've re fallen in love with it so this is a slow step in the right direction. I don't have an editor and am terrible at catching my own mistakes. Let me know if you see something horrifically grammatically wrong.


End file.
